3 thoughts on “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield – Episode 71”

I saw Frank Gorshin on Broadway, portraying George Burns in the 1-man show “Say Goodnight, Gracie”. It may be the greatest performance I have ever seen; you would have sworn it was really George Burns on the stage talking to you.

Also, I think you’re missing the other key social commentary in this episode, alongside the race thing. Bele represents “law and order”; Loki represents “revolution against injustice”. Of course Kirk and the rest of the officers side with Bele by default — he’s a cop, and he represents authority and order, just like they do. It takes a lot to get them to shift off that initial position. Loki is a criminal, a revolutionary, and (by implication) a terrorist. With no specific knowledge of the situation other than his own self-serving statements, they will NOT assume that his criminal actions are justified.

This situation parallels the contemporaneous debates about what constituted ‘legitimate’ fighting against social injustice. And is timely again.